Species 4q. Kiefferulus (?Wirthiella) pungens (Townes) 1945.Originally described as Tendipes (Tendipes) pungens by Townes 1945Transferred to Kiefferulus by Epler (1995). Adult Pea green body of medium build. Frontal tubercles and clypeus small; middle portion of pronotum slightly widened, fore tarsus without a beard. Thoracic markings ochreus. Femora and middle and hind tibia green, tarsi and fore tibia light brown. Anal struts separate and extending posteriorly. Anal point broad, superior volsella very slender. Pupa: Rows of needle-like spines on sternites I-III, and a larger caudolateral spur on tergite VIII than K. dux. Fourth instar larva: A typical Kiefferulus larva with one pair of ventral tubules. Epler gives postmentum length (shorter than VHL) as 255-290 µm, fewer than 75 striae on ventromentum, basal antennal segment 75-98 µm long. Premandible with 5 teeth. He notes that it differs from K. dux (see below) only by its smaller size, but many important larval characters are not described. Found: District of Columbia - Little Falls (Townes 1945).Florida - Canoe Creek, 12 miles south of St. Cloud on Vermont Avenue (Type locality) (Townes 1945). Georgia - (Caldwell et al. 1997) This species belongs to that section of Kiefferulus in which the anal struts of the adult male are separate and extend posteriorly. Such species have been placed in the subgenus Wirthiella, as Elper (2001) did with this species. However, it is currently disputed as to whether Wirthiella can be maintained as a subgenus, since no consistent characters seem to exist for any other life stage. |